LAHORE: A total of 610 residential, commercial and industrial building plans have been awaiting approval from the Municipal Corporation Lahore (MCL) for the last two years.
According to sources, MCL officials have been deliberately delaying the approval of the plans which is causing difficulty for the builders and people in general.
However, an MCL official said that citizens earlier used to submit building plans in MCL controlled zones which has been banned since last month. “Now the residential, commercial and industrial building plans pertaining to areas under MCL’s control can be submitted only to the MCL headquarters, ARFA Tower and Lahore Development Authority’s (LDA) office under the e-portal system which will expedite the approval of maps,” he said
According to documents, MCL had earned a revenue of Rs99,577,846 during FY 2018-19 by approving maps of commercial and residential buildings.
According to MCL’s performance report for the fiscal years 2018-19, 184 residential and 97 commercial building plans pertaining to Data Ganj Bakhsh Zone were submitted out of which 123 residential and 48 commercial plans were approved while the remaining 110 residential and commercial plans are still under process.
Similarly, a total of 1,309 applications were received for the Allama Iqbal Zone out of which 1,178 were for residential building plans, 103 were for commercial building plans and 28 were for industrial building plans.
However, out of the total 1,309 applications, 1164 residential, 99 commercial and 14 industrial building plans were approved while 30 plans were rejected. Two plans pertaining to the Allama Iqbal Zone are still awaiting approval of MCL. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs20,129,509 for approving building plans in the Allama Iqbal Zone.
Moreover, a total of 457 applications for building plans pertaining to Aziz Bhatti Zone were received out of which 421 were for residential and 36 for commercial buildings. However, 147 residential and only one commercial plan were approved while all other plans are still awaiting approval. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs8,532,475 for approving building plans in the Aziz Bhatti Zone.
Furthermore, during FY 2018-19, a total of 154 applications for residential and commercial building plans were received for the Gulberg Zone, out of which 103 plans were approved and 47 were rejected. Four building plans pertaining to the Gulberg Zone still await MCL’s approval. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs2,493,943 for approving building plans in the Gulberg Zone.
Similarly, a total of 458 applications were received for approval of residential and commercial building plans in Nishtar Zone out of which 404 applications were approved while the remaining 54 applications are still under process. During FY 2018-19, MCL received Rs23,548,542 for approving building plans in the Nishtar Zone.
A total of 155 residential, commercial and industrial building plans were received for buildings in the Ravi Zone, out of which 69 plans were approved while all the others were rejected.
However, out of 61 applications received for industrial building plans, only one building plan was approved. During FY 2018-19, MCL collected Rs5,468,858 for approving building plans in the Ravi Zone.
During FY 2018-19, a total of 217 applications for building plans for residential and commercial buildings pertaining to the Samanabad Zone were submitted out of which 170 were approved, 14 were rejected and 33 are still in process. MCL collected Rs4,700,189 for approving building plans in the Samanabad zone.
A total of 141 building plans were also submitted for approval in the Shalimar zone out of which 90 were approved, 47 were rejected while four plans are still under process while a fee of Rs10,355,646 was collected by MCL for the approval of the said plans.
Similarly, 339 plans for residential, commercial and industrial buildings pertaining to the Wagha Zone were submitted out of which 245 were approved and the rest are under process. MCL collected Rs5,136,915 for approving building plans in the Wagha Zone.
